Project will improve safety and benefit Manitobans

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Enbridge has deep ties in southern Manitoba with significant assets and operations running from the Saskatchewan border near Cromer and south to Gretna. We have a 65-plus-year history of contributing to Manitoba’s economy, investing in local communities and safely transporting the energy people want and need to support their everyday lives, to heat homes and power industry. Our employees and contractors live and work in the community and care deeply about ensuring energy is transported safely and sustainably. That commitment to safety is a key reason why we are replacing Line 3, part of our mainline system and critical energy infrastructure that supports our economy and assures a reliable and cost-effective supply of energy.
We understand the community is interested in the Line 3 Replacement Program and we are glad to share information with you. We will continue to provide information and engage with the community as construction moves forward.
First, this is an essential safety and maintenance project that will replace an existing pipeline that has an extensive integrity management program with the most advanced pipeline technology, restoring it to its full operating capacity—it is not an expansion. This will reduce future maintenance activities, and disruptions to both landowners and the environment. In the long run, replacing Line 3 is the safest and most efficient way to restore Line 3.
The pipeline spans from Hardisty, Alberta to the Manitoba/U.S. border south of Gretna, and into North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This replacement project received regulatory approval from the federal government in November 2016 and has strong support from Manitoba municipalities. This project represents the most extensive engagement program in Enbridge history and has 100 percent support from right-of-way landowners in Canada. Additionally, there are 53 agreements covering approximately 75 Indigenous communities or groups for things like Traditional Land Use, procurement, training and employment opportunities, environmental stewardship and construction monitoring.
In addition to enhancing safety, this project is delivering on jobs and economic benefits to the Prairie provinces and Canada as a whole, including many Indigenous communities who are benefiting from the approximately $100 million Enbridge has spent to date on contracting and labour, training, capacity building, and community sustainability initiatives; we anticipate this number to be much higher upon construction completion. More than 3,200 direct and indirect jobs are projected to be generated in Manitoba alone.
Enbridge launched Line 3 replacement construction in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2017, along with some facilities work in Manitoba. Pipeline construction is expected to continue this summer.
Long after construction is complete, Manitoba will continue to benefit from Line 3 and other Enbridge assets and operations within the province. Beyond the salaries paid to Manitoba-based employees, which in turn benefits local economies, Enbridge is a significant contributor to the broader economy in Manitoba. Enbridge paid more than $10 million in property tax in 2016 across Manitoba and an additional $6 million in other taxes—government revenue that goes toward things like hospitals, roads and other programs that benefit Manitobans.
As a company that delivers the energy that we all need for our daily lives, there’s nothing that matters more to Enbridge than safe, healthy and sustainable communities. We don’t just operate in communities, we live in them and as a good neighbor are committed to investing in local initiatives and programs. In the past four years, Enbridge has invested more than $1.5-million in community-strengthening initiatives across Manitoba—supporting numerous not-for-profit agencies in the province—aligned to our three focus areas of health and safety, environment, and community. Additional community investments will be made during the replacement project.
The bottom line is this—the Line 3 Project is an essential maintenance project that will improve safety, create jobs and, perhaps most importantly, ensure the continued safe and reliable delivery of the energy we all need and use for our daily lives.
Providing safe pipeline infrastructure is the foundation of Enbridge’s business. Investments like the one we are making on Line 3—which is 100 percent paid through private investment—are critical to the ongoing safe operation of all Enbridge pipelines and infrastructure.
For more information about the project, please visit enbridge.com/line3Canada
Guy Krepps is Project Director, Line 3, Enbridge Pipelines Inc.